Active rectification of alternator output without using a position sensor

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is an automotive electrical system including a FET based rectifier and method of controlling the FET based rectifier without using either an alternator shaft position sensor or current sensors on each phase of the alternator output to control the switching of the FETs. In accordance with the teachings herein, the voltage and current on the DC bus of the automotive electrical system are sensed and switching of the FETs is controlled by a microcontroller that determines the appropriate switching times based on these sensed parameters.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending application Ser. No. ______(attorney docket No. CM09678AP), having the same title and inventors asthe present application and filed concurrently herewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to automotive electrical systems. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to increasing the amount of powerthat can be drawn from a standard automotive alternator.

BACKGROUND

The 12 volt systems used in today's automobiles are required to supplyever increasing currents as the load on the system continues toincrease. This increase is due to a combination of increasing numbers ofelectronic devices, such as communication, entertainment, and telematicssystems, as well as the proliferation of electrically powered auxiliarysystems to replace traditional hydraulically or mechanically poweredsystems (e.g., electric power steering). To reduce the amount of currentrequired to supply these higher loads, it has been proposed thatautomobiles should adopt 42 volt electrical systems. The automotiveindustry, however, has been reluctant to transition to 42 voltelectrical systems because of increased costs. Consequently, there is astrong demand to improve the performance of 12 volt systems, therebyallowing higher electrical loads to operate effectively withconventional vehicle electrical systems.

One limiting factor on automotive electrical system performance is thevoltage drop that occurs across the rectifier bank when the alternatingcurrent (AC) voltage generated by the alternator is converted to adirect current (DC) voltage. Diode rectification is the predominantmethod of AC/DC conversion. The forward voltage drop of the diodes(typically about 0.7 volts) is a significant proportion of the batteryvoltage. Consequently, it has a major impact on system efficiency andalso reduces the current drawn from the alternator. Diodes having alower voltage drop or higher system voltages mitigate this problem butneither solution appears likely to reach commercialization in the nearfuture. The efficiency of automotive electrical systems, however, may beincreased by using field effect transistors (FETs) to actively rectifyalternator output, rather than diodes currently used for passiverectification. The voltage drop across a switched-on FET (as low as 0.1volt) is substantially lower than the drop across a forward biaseddiode.

One problem with FET-based rectifiers is that of determining when toturn the switches on and off. Historically, most techniques have used analternator shaft position sensor to determine when the FETs shouldswitch. Unfortunately, alternator manufacturers generally do not providesuch a sensor as part of a standard alternator, and custom parts includeattendant higher costs. Other prior art techniques have used anestimation technique that requires three current sensors, one on each ACphase. For cost reasons, the use of multiple AC current sensors is notfeasible in automotive electrical system applications.

In other applications where FETs are used to rectify AC electricity,such as single phase and three phase AC power supplies, the sourcevoltage tends to be very stiff, i.e. the source voltage is not affectedby the amount of current drawn therefrom. Because inductors aretypically included in such systems to reduce current harmonics, thevoltages across these inductors are readily available for switchingcontrol. Unfortunately, in an automotive alternator, the inherentinductance in series with each winding is significant, resulting in asubstantially less stiff voltage source. As a result, the terminalvoltage is distorted considerably as current is drawn from thealternator, and control techniques from the AC power supply arts are noteasily applicable.

Thus, what is needed in the art is a method for properly controlling aFET-based rectifier in an automotive application without the use of aposition sensor or the use of AC current sensors on each alternatorphase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the inventive aspects of this disclosure will be bestunderstood with reference to the following detailed description, whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an automotive electrical system;

FIG. 2 illustrates characteristic waveforms for an automotive electricalsystem employing certain teachings of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is an enlargement of a portion of FIG. 2 illustratingcharacteristic waveforms for an automotive electrical system employingcertain teachings of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4(a)-4(c) illustrate additional characteristic waveforms for anautomotive electrical system employing certain teachings of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 5(a)-5(c) are flow diagrams illustrating the techniques ofrectifier control in accordance with the teachings of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a filtering arrangement that may be used inconjunction with the present invention for obtaining ripple current andaverage current on the DC bus of an electrical system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to an automotive electrical systemincluding a FET-based rectifier and method of controlling the FET basedrectifier without using either an alternator position sensor or currentsensors on each phase of the alternator output to control the switchingof the FETs. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention,the voltage and current on the DC bus of the automotive electricalsystem are sensed and switching of the FETs is controlled by amicrocontroller that determines the appropriate switching times based onthese sensed parameters.

Understanding of the invention will be facilitated by reference to FIG.1, an automotive electrical power system 100 is shown. Automotiveelectrical system 100 has two power sources, a battery 101 and analternator 102. In many automotive applications, the battery 101 is aconventional lead acid battery, although various other battery types mayalso be used. During normal vehicle operation, the battery 101 does notsupply energy to a bus 104 and the loads connected thereto. Theelectrical energy required for normal vehicle operation is provided bythe alternator 102, assuming that the capacity of the alternator 102 issufficient to provide the required power. If this power cannot besupplied by the alternator 102, power is drawn from the battery 101.Additionally, the battery 101 is available to provide power to thevarious electrical loads when the vehicle is not in operation. When thealternator 102 generates more power than needed by the loads connectedto the bus 104, the excess may be used to recharge the battery 101.

Battery charging current may be left uncontrolled, as is typical, or avoltage regulator 110 may be configured to regulate the charge currentand voltage supplied to the battery 101. In normal operation, however,the voltage regulator 110 is operative to keep the voltage of the bus104 at a nearly constant value. This is necessary because the outputvoltage of the alternator 102 varies with engine speed and theelectrical load connected to the bus 104. Design of various voltageregulator circuits is well known to those skilled in the art, and thusis not addressed in detail here. In general, the regulator controls thebus voltage by controlling the field current to the alternator.

The alternator 102 is typically a wound field alternator of a type knownto those skilled in the art, such as a Lundell alternator, however,other alternators may be used. Current flows from the alternator 102 tothe bus 104 through a rectifier bank 103. The alternator 102 and therectifier bank 103 may be either single phase or multi-phase. Typically,the rectifier bank 103 comprises a plurality of diodes. In this case,however, a plurality of FETs is used, in essence replacing diodes with aswitch/diode combination. With this change from diode to FET, theswitching instant is now controllable when the appropriate gating signalis applied to the FET gate. As noted above, the use of FETs as opposedto diodes for rectification poses a control difficulty. Whereas diodesare self-commutated devices, and thus do not require any control todictate turn on and turn off instants, FETs must be switched on and offat the proper time. For the reasons noted above, position sensors orother conventional techniques of rotor position sensing are undesirablein the automotive alternator application.

Illustrated in FIG. 1 is an alternator shaft position sensor 120, whichconnects to a microcontroller 121 for switching control. Byincorporating the teachings herein, a standard alternator, i.e., onewithout a position sensor, may be used by using two different techniquesto determine the appropriate switching time for the FETs. Both sensingtechniques require sensing of the current on the DC bus 104, using acurrent sensor 123. Additionally, voltage of the DC bus 104 is sensed bya voltage sensor 122 because the ultimate goal of the rectifierswitching control is to regulate the bus voltage to an almost constantvoltage. The sense signals are coupled to the microcontroller 121.

In the case of either of the two switching control techniques, the FETsare switched at the same electrical frequency as the alternator, but thephase at which they are switched relative to the alternator shaftposition (and thus back EMF) may be varied. This ability to control thephase of FET switching permits the rectifier to increase or decrease theaverage output current above the current available from a dioderectifier operating under the same conditions. An additional benefit ofthe active rectifier is that the DC bus voltage may be controlled with amuch faster response time because the FET switching can respond morequickly than the field current of the alternator.

Understanding of the control techniques may be had with reference toFIG. 2, which illustrates simulated waveforms for a system employing thecontrol techniques of the present invention. In the simulation of FIG.2, the field current and rotational speed of the alternator are heldconstant, so that the change in DC bus voltage and current are afunction only of the switching of the rectifier FETs.

There are five waveforms shown in FIG. 2, two voltages and threecurrents. Sinusoidal waveform 201 is back EMF of one alternator outputphase. One skilled in the art will understand that this waveform is notmeasurable when current is drawn from the alternator, and that it is afunction of the shaft position of the alternator. Square wave 202 is theapplied voltage of one of the FETs, in this case the FET correspondingto the positive rail of the rectifier for phase A. The transitions ofthis waveform correspond to the switching on and off of the rectifier,and for purposes of the discussion herein is used as a proxy forrectifier switching. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat the applied voltage of phase A 202 is shown as a voltage relativeto the alternator neutral point. In this case, when the upper FET inphase A is gated on, the voltage applied to the phase is half batteryvoltage. When the lower FET in phase A is gated on, the voltage appliedto phase A is negative half battery voltage. At a phase angle of zerodegrees (0°), the back EMF 201 and alternator switching 202 are inphase. As the angle increases, the phase of alternator switchingincreasingly lags the alternator back EMF.

The third waveform in FIG. 2 is increasing sinusoid 203, which is thephase current of the alternator. The fourth waveform is theinstantaneous DC bus current 204, which is the combined rectifiedcurrent of all three phases of the alternator. The fifth waveform is theaverage DC bus current 205, which is the instantaneous DC bus current204 with the ripple filtered out. Behavior of these currents should benoted as the phase between the alternator back EMF 201 and the rectifierswitching 202 increases. Specifically, as the phase angle between theback EMF 201 and the rectifier applied voltage 202 increases graduallyalong the phase angle axis, the phase current 203 also increases. Duringthis same time, the ripple current decreases until it reaches a minimumat approximately 47°, and begins increasing again. The average current205 also increases continuously as the phase angle increases. Theaverage current increases until the phase between the back EMF andrectifier switching is approximately 90°. (Note that the exact valuedepends on factors such as winding resistance. Ninety degrees is thetheoretical phase that produces maximum current.)

The above-described relationship between the phase of rectifierswitching and DC bus current may be more clearly seen in FIG. 3, whichis an enlargement of portions of FIG. 2 in the vicinity of the minimumripple point at approximately 47°. The point where the ripple ofinstantaneous DC bus current 204 is minimized corresponds to a FETswitching phase that corresponds to switching at the same time at whichdiodes switch. A FET rectifier operating at this point is said to beoperating in the diode mode. The FET rectifier is able to decrease thephase of switching from this point to reduce the average phase current,at the expense of increased ripple. Alternatively, the FET rectifier canincrease the phase further to increase the average phase current, alsoat the expense of increased ripple. This allows the rectifier to controlthe DC bus current, and thus the voltage of the DC bus.

Using the rectifier to control the DC bus voltage has advantages overthe conventional voltage regulator, principally in that the rectifiercan respond much faster to load changes. Such a control technique isillustrated in FIG. 5(a), described further below. The microcontroller121 continuously senses the voltage of the DC bus 104 as monitored bythe current sensor 122, which is indicated in step 501. If the voltageis in its normal range, i.e., when high currents are not required, theFETs should be switched to operate at the minimum ripple point (step502), which most closely replicates diode operation. When additionalcurrent is needed (e.g., because of a high current load being switchedon), which is detected by a decrease in the DC bus voltage, the FETswitching phase may be increased to produce this additional current(step 503). This assumes that the increased ripple current can betolerated, which generally is the case.

For normal operation, two methods may be used to determine when thecurrent ripple is minimized, i.e., when the system is operating in thediode mode. Each method may also be used to determine where the systemis operating relative to diode mode, i.e., is the system operating inthe region to the left in FIGS. 2 and 3 where the phase angle isdecreased beyond diode mode, or is the system operating in the region tothe right in FIGS. 2 and 3, where the phase angle is increased beyonddiode mode. One method relies on average current and average currentripple on the DC link, while a second method relies on sampling the DClink current at specific intervals in the cycle. In either case, the DClink current (i.e., the current on DC bus 104) is sensed by currentsensor 123.

With regard to the first method, it can be seen from FIG. 2, that if thephase angle for FET firing is increased beyond the minimum ripple point(e.g., phase angles greater than 47° in FIG. 2), both the averagecurrent and ripple increase. Conversely, if the firing angle isdecreased (e.g., phase angles less than 47° in FIG. 2) the averagecurrent is reduced while the ripple current increases. Thus, the firstmethod relies on a comparison of average current value and ripplecurrent value obtained immediately before and after a small perturbationof the FET firing phase. Any of the known techniques for obtaining theripple current may be used (e.g., AC coupling, amplifying, andfiltering).

One circuit for obtaining the average and ripple current is illustratedby block diagram in FIG. 6. The measured current I_(meas), which comesfrom current sensor 123, is input into a low pass filter 602 and a bandpass filter 603. The output of the low pass filter is the averagecurrent (I_(avg)). The output of the band pass filter 603 is the ripplecurrent (I_(ripple)).

The cutoff frequency of low pass filter 602 is a function of thealternator frequency, and may be selected by one skilled in the art toproduce reliable average currents for the entire range of alternatoroperating frequencies. Alternatively, the low pass filter 602 may be atracking type filter (as shown) that varies its cutoff frequency as afunction of the alternator frequency. (Note that low pass filter 602receives the alternator frequency (f_(alt)) as an input.) Band passfilter 603 is a tracking filter that passes signals having a frequencyof six times the alternator frequency. (Note that band pass filter 603also receives as an input the alternator frequency (f_(alt)).)Construction of both filter types is known to those skilled in the art,and thus details are not reproduced here. The alternator frequency(f_(alt)) is obtained from the FET switching frequency if the FETs areactive; otherwise, it is obtained from the alternator line-line voltageusing a squaring circuit and a timer in the microcontroller.

Specific details of the control method based on average and ripplecurrent may be understood by reference to FIG. 5 b. The ripple currentand average current are sensed in step 504. The FET switching phase isthen slightly perturbed. Those skilled in the art will note that this isdone by perturbing the switching frequency of the FETs. Specifically, anincrease in frequency corresponds to a decrease in phase and vice versa.In one embodiment, the perturbation (Δf) is one percent of the initialfrequency, although other fractions of the initial frequency may beused. After a suitable time delay for the change to take effect, theripple current and average current are again obtained. In oneembodiment, the amount of time waited may be varied as a function of thealternator frequency. A higher alternator frequency necessitates ashorter wait time and vice versa. That said, a delay on the order of 10cycles of the alternator voltage waveform suffices for mostapplications, though other values of wait time may be chosen dependingon the alternator parameters (e.g., alternator time constants).

The average currents and ripple currents obtained immediately before andimmediately after the perturbation of FET switching phase are used togenerate difference values ΔI_(avg) and ΔI_(ripple), where the change iscomputed by subtracting the first (pre-perturbation) value from thesecond (post-perturbation) value. In step 507 a, it is determinedwhether the ripple current increased as a result of the perturbation,ie., ΔI_(ripple)>0. If the ripple current decreased it is determinedwhether the average current also increased (step 507 b). If both theripple current and average current decreased, the FET switching phase(frequency) is again perturbed (step 508 a) in the same direction as instep 505. After a suitable delay (step 505 a) ripple current and averagecurrent are again measured (step 506) and the process repeats.Alternatively, if the ripple current decreased and the average currentincreased, the FET switching phase (frequency) is perturbed (step 508 b)in the opposite direction of the perturbation performed in step 505,and, after a suitable delay (step 505 a) the currents are again measured(step 506) and the process repeats. If it is determined that the ripplecurrent increased (step 507 a) and the average current also increased(step 507 c), the FET switching phase (frequency) is again perturbed(step 508 d) in the same direction as in step 505, and, after a suitabledelay to allow the change to take effect (step 505), new ripple currentand average current values are sensed (step 506) and the processrepeats. Finally, if it is determined that the ripple current increased(step 507 a) and the average current decreased (step 507 c) the FETswitching phase (frequency) is perturbed in the opposite direction (step508 c) of the perturbation performed in step 505, and after a suitabledelay (step 505 a) new values of average current and ripple current aresensed (step 506) and the process repeats. The average current must bechecked for an increase or a decrease for both ΔI_(ripple)>0 andΔI_(ripple)<0 because a load change may occur before thepost-perturbation value is read, resulting in an unexpected deviation ofΔI_(ripple) or ΔI_(avg).

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the algorithmdescribed above assumes that tracking to the minimum ripple point (i.e.,diode mode) is desired. However, any point may be selected as theoperating point and the difference in ripple currents used to track tothis point. This searcher algorithm is similar to those used for peakpower tracking in solar cells. Such a searcher algorithm has theadvantage that it does not make any assumptions regarding the batterystate of charge, battery condition (i.e., new or old), load currentwaveform (and the impact of the load current wave form on batteryvoltage), ambient temperature, etc.

The phase angle of the FETs is thus continuously perturbed, or dithered,so that changes in output current and ripple current are continuouslyoccurring. If the ripple current and average current values bothincrease, the phase is delayed too much. Conversely, if the ripplecurrent increases but the average current decreases, the phase has beendecreased too much.

A second method for minimizing ripple current relies on the change in DClink current waveform on either side of the minimum ripple point (62 msin this example). As can be seen in FIG. 3, when the system is operatingoutside the diode mode, there is a discontinuity in the DC bus currentas a result of the switching event. This discontinuity can be used bythe controller to determine whether it is operating in the diode mode,and, if not, whether the phase should be decreased or increased toreturn to diode mode. FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) better illustrate thesediscontinuities in the instantaneous phase current 204. It should benoted that the idealized simulation waveforms of FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) donot account for inductance in series with the bus, so current changesare instantaneous.

In FIG. 4(a), the relevant waveforms are shown for phase angles lessthan 47°, i.e., when the phase of the switching signal has not beenincreased all the way to the minimum ripple point. As can be seen, theinstantaneous value of the DC link current 204 just after a FET switches(illustrated by switching signal 202) is lower than the instantaneousvalue of the DC link current just before a FET switched (i.e., a fallingdiscontinuity). This indicates that the phase of FET switching should befurther increased to return to the diode mode.

The situation is reversed for phase angles greater than 47°, i.e., whenthe phase of the switching signal has been increased beyond the minimumripple point, illustrated in FIG. 4(b). The instantaneous value of theDC link current just after a FET switches (illustrated by the transitionof switching signal 202) is greater than just before it switched (i.e.,a rising discontinuity). This indicates that the phase of FET switchingshould be decreased to return to the diode mode.

Obviously, if there is no current discontinuity, the current immediatelybefore and immediately after the switching event is continuous and thesystem is operating in the diode mode. The diode mode of operation,i.e., the minimum ripple point, is illustrated in FIG. 4(c). As can beseen, there is no discontinuity in the DC link current 204 associatedwith the change of FET state (illustrated by the transition of switchingsignal 202). Also, it can be seen that the ripple is substantially lessthan that illustrated in either FIG. 4(a) or 4(b).

A control method based on these observations is illustrated in FIG.5(c). The instantaneous DC link current is sampled just before (step509) and just after (step 510) a FET switching event. These two valuesare compared in step 511. Specifically, a difference signal (I_(diff))is computed as the difference between the current after the switchingevent and the current before the switching event. The difference signalis subtracted from a reference current (I_(ref)) to generate an errorsignal (I_(err)). The error signal I_(err) is used in conjunction with acontrol loop to control the FET switching phase (frequency). In oneembodiment, the control loop may be a proportional-integral (PI) controlloop, although other control loops-proportional orproportional-integral-derivative (PID)—could also be used. Constructionof such control loops and the use of loops other than PI or PID is wellknown to those skilled in the art, and thus details are not reproducedhere.

In most cases, I_(ref)=0, so the diode mode of operation is obtained.However, if an output current in excess of that delivered in diode modeis desired, I_(ref)>0 is commanded. This forces the FET firing angle toincrease beyond 47 degrees, thereby resulting in an increase in I_(avg)to the desired value. Conversely, if a reduction in average outputcurrent is desired, Iref<0 is commanded, thereby forcing the angle toreduce below 47 degrees. In all cases, the PI loop, or any other loopused to regulate I_(err), is preferably designed to force I_(err)=0 inthe long term, even though short term deviations from 0 will exist.

Operation of the control loop is basically as follows: If theinstantaneous DC link current immediately prior to the switching eventis greater than the instantaneous DC link current immediately after theswitching event (i.e., the current did not increase), the phase of theswitching signal may be increased to produce more output current. Thiscorresponds to a decrease in the FET switching frequency. Conversely, ifthe instantaneous DC link current just before the switching event isless than the instantaneous DC link current subsequent to the switchingevent (i.e., the current did increase), the switching signal phase hasbeen increased beyond the minimum ripple point and should be decreasedto stay at the minimum ripple point. Thus the FET switching frequency isincreased.

In either case, the new FET switching frequency is sent to the switchingcontroller (step 512). After a suitable delay (step 513) the processresumes with the next switching event (return to step 509).

Both of the aforementioned methods for minimizing ripple current couldbe used together, with one method performing a redundant verification ofthe other method. Alternatively, the chosen method may change dependingon alternator speed. As alternator speed increases, sampling of the DClink current may be limited by the processor speed, in which case theaveraging method would be the preferred method.

The techniques described herein permits operation of an alternator andFET based rectifier in a more efficient manner, while simultaneouslyallowing the alternator output power to be increased beyond thatavailable when using a diode based rectifier when the additional poweris needed. This additional power is made available because the lossesacross the rectifying elements (FETs versus diodes) are substantiallyreduced. A further advantage of the present invention is that the needan alternator shaft position sensor to control FET switching iseliminated, allowing a standard, unmodified alternator to be used. Yetanother advantage is that the control methods described herein areself-compensating in that they do not depend on particular machineparameters, and thus it is not necessary to have the controller accountfor variations due to manufacturing tolerances, age, wear, etc.

It should be understood that the inventive concepts disclosed herein arecapable of many modifications, combinations and sub-combinations. To theextent such permutations fall within the scope of the appended claimsand their equivalents, they are intended to be covered by this patent.

1. A method of controlling a FET based rectifier to produce an outputhaving minimum ripple current, the method comprising: sensing a firstinstantaneous current on a DC bus to which the output of the rectifieris connected immediately prior to a switching event; sensing a secondinstantaneous current on the DC bus to which the output of the rectifieris connected immediately after the switching event; comparing the sensedfirst instantaneous current to the sensed second instantaneous currentto determine whether to increase or decrease the phase of FET switching.2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: decreasing the phase of FETswitching if the second instantaneous current is greater than the firstinstantaneous current.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:increasing the phase of FET switching if the second instantaneouscurrent is less than the first instantaneous current.
 4. The method ofclaim 2 further comprising: increasing the phase of FET switching if thesecond instantaneous current is less than the first instantaneouscurrent.
 5. A method of controlling a FET based rectifier used in anautomotive electrical system, wherein the automotive electrical systemcomprises an alternator, the method comprising: at low alternatorspeeds: sensing a first instantaneous current on a DC bus to which theoutput of the rectifier is connected immediately prior to a switchingevent; sensing a second instantaneous current on the DC bus to which theoutput of the rectifier is connected immediately after the switchingevent; and comparing the sensed first instantaneous current to thesensed second instantaneous current to determine whether to increase ordecrease the phase of FET switching; and at high alternator speeds:sensing a first ripple current and first average current on a DC bus towhich the output of the rectifier is connected; perturbing a phase ofFET switching relative to an AC voltage generated by an alternator in afirst direction; sensing a second ripple current and a second averagecurrent on the DC bus after perturbing the phase of FET switching; andcomparing the first ripple current and first average current to thesecond ripple current and the second average current to determinewhether the phase of FET switching should be again perturbed in thefirst direction or should be perturbed in a second direction oppositethe first direction.
 6. The method of claim 5 further comprising: at lowalternator speeds: decreasing the phase of FET switching if the secondinstantaneous current is greater than the first instantaneous current;and increasing the phase of FET switching if the second instantaneouscurrent is less than the first instantaneous current; and at highalternator speeds: perturbing the phase of FET switching in the seconddirection if the second average current is less than the first averagecurrent; perturbing the phase of FET switching in the second directionif the second average current is greater than the first average currentand the second ripple current is greater than the first ripple current;perturbing the phase of FET switching again in the first direction ifthe second average current is greater than the first average current andthe second ripple current is less than the first ripple current.
 7. Anautomotive electrical system comprising: a DC bus; a voltage sensorconfigured to sense a voltage of the DC bus; a current sensor configuredto sense a current of the DC bus; an alternator; an active rectifiercoupling the alternator to the DC bus, the alternator comprising aplurality of FETs; and a microcontroller coupled to the voltage sensor,the current sensor, and the active rectifier, the microcontrollerconfigured to control switching of the plurality of FETs withoutreference to a shaft position of the alternator by analyzing the voltageand current of the DC bus.
 8. The automotive electrical system of claim7 wherein the microcontroller switches the plurality of FETs to minimizeripple current on the DC bus under normal operating conditions.
 9. Theautomotive electrical system of claim 8 wherein the microcontrollerswitches the plurality of FETs to minimize ripple current on the DC busby performing a method according to claim
 15. 10. The automotiveelectrical system of claim 8 wherein the microcontroller switches theplurality of FETs to increase available current within a predeterminedlimit for ripple current when additional current is required.
 11. Theautomotive electrical system of claim 10 wherein the microcontrollerdetermines that additional current is required by reference to thevoltage of the DC bus.
 12. The automotive electrical system of claim 8wherein the microcontroller switches the plurality of FETs to minimizeripple current on the DC bus by executing instructions corresponding tothe method of claim
 4. 13. The automotive electrical system of claim 8wherein the microcontroller switches the plurality of FETs to minimizeripple current on the DC bus by executing instructions corresponding tothe method of claim
 5. 14. The automotive electrical system of claim 13wherein the microcontroller switches the plurality of FETs to increaseavailable current within a predetermined limit for ripple current whenadditional current is required.
 15. The automotive electrical system ofclaim 14 wherein the microcontroller determines that additional currentis required by reference to the voltage of the DC bus.
 16. Theautomotive electrical system of claim 8 wherein the microcontrollerswitches the plurality of FETs to minimize ripple current on the DC busby performing a method according to claim
 6. 17. The automotiveelectrical system of claim 7 wherein the microcontroller switches theplurality of FETs to increase available current within a predeterminedlimit for ripple current when additional current is required.
 18. Theautomotive electrical system of claim 17 wherein the microcontrollerdetermines that additional current is required by reference to thevoltage of the DC bus.
 19. The automotive electrical system of claim 8wherein the microcontroller switches the plurality of FETs to increaseavailable current within a predetermined limit for ripple current whenadditional current is required.
 20. The automotive electrical system ofclaim 19 wherein the microcontroller determines that additional currentis required by reference to the voltage of the DC bus.